The Reappearance
by Kharina
Summary: Like so many choices the Ellimist offers, it wasn't really a choice for her. He knew she wouldn't say no. Please R&R, rating may go up in later chapters. Chapter 2 is up! Illim makes an appearance and the Animorphs decide to evacuate.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Animorphs or any of the characters you recognise from the books. This story is written for my enjoyment and I do not get any money from doing it. I do, however, own my original characters other than the Animorphs aspects of them, so please ask if by any chance you'd like to use them in a fic of your own. I will probably say yes.

**Authors Note: **Hello everyone! I know you'll be mad at me for not working on my other fics. I do intend to tidy them up as much as possible. However I have planned this one, so hopefully it won't trail off somewhere in the middle like my others. It's a plotline I thought of for part 2 of Paradise Forsaken, but at the time I preferred the line I took. Then I realised it was too many books that didn't give me the opportunity to develop Aftran much. So this, I think, is better.

A big thank you to **Sinister Shadow, **my beta reader for this fic, to whom this chapter is dedicated, and whose planning system I used to plan this fic, because I am terrible at planning. (Read her fics, because they are fantastic).

Hope you like!

* * *

The ocean is a lonely place. At first I had loved being here, in this new body. Free, able to see, and hear, and touch. Life was certainly simpler. Yet after my elation at being free wore off, I began to miss my old friends. I started to feel guilty that I had escaped where the Empire would never find me, but they still risked their lives fighting for a movement I had introduced them to. At least I hoped they were still fighting. I didn't know if they had been killed- I didn't know if the war was over or whether it was still going on. If it was over, I had no idea which side had won. It was this constant doubt that was the most agonising. 

I wasn't sure how long I had been here. A long time, I knew that. Long enough to give birth to and raise a calf. At first I hadn't acted like a humpback whale at all, other than what I needed to do to sustain my life, like eating. But in the end I decided it was easier to give myself over to the instincts than to try and resist them. Having my calf had helped me to understand the bond between mammals and their children, something as a Yeerk I had found difficult to empathise with. My life here was peaceful and enjoyable, and at first I had been happy. But now I wasn't sure whether I really should be here- I wondered if I was needed. After all, there were a precious few people on the Animorphs' side.

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed I had stopped moving, and so had the rest of the ocean around me. I was frozen at the surface, so I could breathe, but I was very afraid.

( Do not panic. )

I had no idea where this voice was coming from, or who it was. But soon both were made clear. A dolphin surfaced before me, and looked me in the eye.

( I am the Ellimist, ) it said. ( You have heard of me, so let's save tedious introductions. )

( Wait… what… why are you here? )

He… it… sighed. ( I was actually about to tell you that, before you interrupted me. You are going to be needed. ) He told me.

( I was worried I might be, ) I said after a pause. ( But what can I do here, in this form? )

( I can bring you back to your Yeerk body, with morphing powers, and human DNA already available for you to morph. But I do not interfere in the affairs of other species. This has to be your choice. ) He went silent, apparently waiting.

( What, I have to choose now? ) I exclaimed.

He didn't answer. I guessed that meant yes.

I thought for a long while. But eventually I decided, that whilst I might enjoy this simple, free life, if I was needed, it really wasn't a choice. It was my duty.

( I suppose I must go back, ) I said.

He eyed me. ( Does that mean yes? )

( Yes, it does. )

( Very well. )

In a split second, I found myself standing on a beach in human form. There was no one else there, as it was a fairly cold day, and I supposed a weekday. Or it was the Ellimist's doing. The latter seemed more likely. The Ellimist was still there, now in his usual old man guise.

"You can stay in this form for two hours before you must go back to your Yeerk form, or be trapped as a human. You know where to find the human Cassie."

Then he was gone.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "You can't just leave me here! What about Kandrona? How am I meant to get that? Wait!"

He didn't reappear or make any answer.

"Oh, _fine,_" I snapped, although no one was there to hear.

I looked around. I recognised this beach- it was the same one I had left when I had morphed the humpback. Luckily, I knew my way to Cassie's barn from here.

I set off walking, as there was nothing else to do, and I hoped to reach Cassie's farm before my two hours were up.

After a long, boring walk, I could see the barn and house in the distance. I sped up my walk.

I reached the back of the barn, and stopped. It had just occurred to me that I had no way to prove who I was.

I could hear voices. I listened carefully and distinguished the voices of Marco, Jake, Cassie and Rachel. That probably meant it was a full Animorph meeting and Ax and Tobias were there too, but I couldn't hear them because they were speaking in private thought speech.

Suddenly they went silent, and it occurred to me that Tobias might have spotted me. I began to walk to the front of the barn.

I pushed open the door, and before I was even properly inside Ax's tail blade was at my throat.

I held up my hands. "Wait, it's me!" I exclaimed. Then I realized how stupid that sounded. "Aftran," I clarified.

They looked at each other.

"Last time we checked, Aftran was a whale. So why should we believe you are Aftran?" Marco asked skeptically. "How did you get from being a whale to here?"

I explained about the Ellimist, and they began to look a little less suspicious. But only a little.

Cassie spoke up. "If you are Aftran, I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll understand we really need to make sure who you are. And I have no idea how to do that." She glanced at the others.

They all whispered amongst themselves for a while. Ax did not move to join them, but I had no doubt he was communicating with them by private thought-speech. I kept very still, as anyone sane would do if they had an Andalite tail blade at their throat.

After a while they stopped whispering and Cassie stepped towards me.

"Aftran, if you are Aftran, there's only one way I can think of to tell if you're telling the truth…" she paused for a second. "I have a Yeerk morph."

"I know," I said, wondering why she was telling me this. Then it hit me. "Oh. You want to, for want of a better word, infest me?"

She nodded, looking a little guilty.

"Well, I can hardly complain," I said. "I've done it enough."

It felt very, very strange, and a little frightening. Cassie was, of course, no expert at wrapping herself around the brain so she kept hitting memory as she did so or suddenly taking control of an arm, leg or my eyes. She apologised and hastily backed away every time she hit memory, but it was still annoying and a little embarrassing. Of course, by the time she had fully connected with the brain she already knew I was telling the truth, without needing to look further.

(Sorry,) she said again.

(It gets very irritating when you continually apologise,) I answered.

(Sorry.)

I mentally rolled my eyes. (And don't even think about apologising for apologising,) I said, before she had the chance. (Can you tell that fool of an Andalite it's quite safe for him to take his tail away now?)

Yes, I was a little ticked off. And I was getting worried, because I would have to demorph very soon.

Cassie told Ax to take his tail away, and he reluctantly did so. It felt very strange to hear her talking with my mouth. She left my mind soon after that, to the relief of both of us, and I quickly demorphed and morphed back to human (a very tiring thing to do) so I would be able to communicate with them.

"What now?" Was the first thing I heard Marco say.

"About Aftran, or about our families?" Jake asked.

"Well, uh, both."

"What about your families?" I asked, puzzled and worried.

"Visser Three's finally guessed we're human," Cassie told me.

"And he knows which humans?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"He might," she answered. "He has our blood- it's a matter of time." She lowered her voice. "He already has a match for Tobias."

Jake cut in. "Listen, we need to get some sleep on this. Let's meet back here in the morning and take a vote. Meanwhile, what are we going to do about Aftran?"

* * *

I felt like a mini cliffhanger.

**Please remember to review! **I know it's a pain, but I love to hear what you think, especially any tips or constructive crit you might have.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hi everyone! I know this chapter's been a while coming, but it is a long one so that might make up for it. Please let me know what you think of it!

A big thank you to **Sinister Shadow** for her help with this chapter.

And thank you also to Quillian, Animorphgirl, Ember Nickel, voodooqueen126, Edriss and Cherrycoatedcandy for their reviews for last chapter! (I am hoping that the list of reviewers will soon become too long to include in full here!)

(A Quick thanks to Ember again for letting me know the thought speak signs weren't showing up, hopefully this is fixed now!)

Now that's done, enjoy the chapter!

They all looked at me.

"I don't know," I admitted. "The Ellimist just left me there. I've no clue how I can get Kandrona or anything."

They all looked worried, but not half as worried as I felt. Cassie tried to comfort me.

"Don't worry. If we don't find a way to get you Kandrona you can always take another nothlit morph: you won't have to die," she said gently.

"I'm sure that's not what's meant to happen, or I might as well have stayed as a whale," I replied. "We have to think of something."

Everyone was silent for a little while, thinking it over. Then Rachel suddenly spoke up, making me jump a little.

"I know! We know the Yeerks have one-use portable Kandronas…"

"They are in guarded storerooms in the Yeerk pool. Are you saying you want to go down to the Yeerk pool every three days to steal one? It's hardly a long term solution," I interrupted.

She thought for a minute. "We could manage it. Maybe. Or the peace movement could do it…"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "I'd rather starve! I'd never put them through that much trouble, and anyway it would never work. I'm sure even Visser Three, stupid as he is, would figure out that he needed to put the Kandronas under heavier guard if they succeeded in stealing some. It just wouldn't work, and it's far too risky to do that just for me. I'm not that important."

"At least it was an idea," Rachel snapped back. "What have you thought of?"

"Let's not argue," Cassie said. "It won't help."

"What about the Chee?" Marco said suddenly.

I looked at him, puzzled. "What about them?" I looked around, and everyone was looking equally confused.

"Do you remember when we first met Erek? The first time we visited him, he showed us that Yeerk he had in his head? He could make Kandrona rays to keep it alive…"

"He has a Yeerk trapped in his head?!" I exclaimed, shocked.

"To convince them he's a full member of the Sharing," Marco explained.

"And I thought I liked the Chee," I muttered.

Cassie sighed. "You'd better like them, because they're the only people that can get you Kandrona."

That was a good point. I was silent, as was everyone else for a time.

"So, what now?" Cassie asked me.

I didn't need to think for long. "I need to see Illim."

"Okay…" Cassie said. "Should I come with you?"

"I suppose so. You could help me explain… if you want to, that is."

Cassie glanced at Jake. He nodded.

"Yeah, you'd better go. We'll carry on with this when you get back… don't be too long."

We set off together. "You should have got a bird morph before we left," Cassie commented, after we'd been walking for about ten minutes.

"Good point. Still, a bit late for that now."

"It's not far before we can catch the bus into town," she assured me.

I smiled. "I know. I didn't forget what I learned from your memories: not after getting lost around here once."

She laughed. "Yes, I suppose you do know."

It wasn't too long before we were ringing the bell at the door of Mr Tidwell's house.

"Actually, we really should have thought of a less obvious way of doing this," I commented worriedly, looking around nervously.

Cassie shook her head. "If people saw us sneaking around like thieves, then they'd be suspicious. No-one will take any notice if we ring the bell like anyone else."

"I suppose you're right," I replied, still a little worried.

Illim pulled the door open before we could say anything else. He looked a little surprised. Well, that's quite an understatement. More like shocked and very worried.

"What are you here for?!" He hissed to Cassie.

"I'll tell you inside," she replied.

He stood back to allow us to pass him into the house.

As soon as he'd shut the door, he whipped around to face Cassie. "What is it?" He asked anxiously.

"It's nothing bad," she hastened to reassure him. "It's Aftran. She's back." She indicated me.

Illim's eyes flew to me. "Aftran?" He asked hesitantly. "Is that really you?"

I nodded. Before I knew what was happening, he had grabbed me and hugged me.

"I… I thought you were dead," he said, his eyes damply glistening.

"No…" I looked at Cassie. "Didn't you tell him what you decided with the morphing cube?"

"I thought I had," she said slowly. "I had a lot to think about. I didn't think…"

"You didn't think I'd care," Illim finished for her.

She blushed. "Well no… I mean, that's not quite… I didn't think that…"

"It's okay," he said. "You can't be expected to remember everything with the life you lead." He looked back at me.

"I suppose we have a lot to catch up on," I said.

He nodded, and beckoned us through into the living room. There were sheets of paper all over the table, covered in messy handwriting and Tidwell's red pen.

"Sorry about the mess," Illim glanced at Cassie. "And tell Marco that, yes, I am able to tell he did this," he paused to hold up a short, messy piece of writing, containing more red than blue writing, "on the bus."

I laughed. "He does lead a busy life trying to free the human race," I pointed out.

Illim smiled at me and waved a hand at the sofa. I sat down.

"Should I go?" Cassie asked uncomfortably.

"Only if you want to," I said.

"It's just, I'd better get back to the meeting…"

"Yes, you should. I'll see you later."

Once Cassie had left, Illim sat down opposite me. "What happened to you?" He asked me.

I told him everything from the moment Cassie had taken me out of the Yeerk pool until the moment I'd arrived at his door, as briefly as I could. I was more interested in finding out what had happened to the peace movement in my absence.

"What's happened with the movement?" I asked, barely stopping to take breath after finishing my explanation.

Illim smiled. "We've increased amazingly in numbers. Especially since Visser Three was promoted…"

"Wait… Visser Three was promoted?"

He looked surprised. "Cassie didn't tell you? Yes, he was. Visser One- the former Visser One- was put on trial for treason, and found guilty. From what I heard of it, they gave her a chance to buy her freedom by winning the Anati system. And she failed."

"Kandrona starvation?" I asked slowly.

He nodded.

I shivered involuntarily. I'd by no means liked Visser One, but I'd almost faced Kandrona starvation myself. "Visser Three's now Visser One? What happened to Marco's mother?" I asked anxiously.

"Oh, she's safe. They rescued her. I assume Cassie's told you Visser Three suspects they're human?"

I nodded. "Well, if he didn't after that then he's more of a fool than I thought he was, which is saying something. No Andalite would bother saving a condemned Yeerk's host, unless it was an Andalite. I guess it's lucky for us… Visser One was ten times the leader Visser Three is."

He nodded. "You're not alone in that opinion. And the way he's been behaving since… a botched attempt to start World War Three… many Yeerks killed that day… well, people aren't happy. They're fed up of war."

I smiled. "How many?"

"We number almost a thousand Yeerks, now."

"A thousand!" I gasped.

"Only an approximation, of course. Not all of them are formal members."

"Are many of them hosted?"

"I'm not sure. I know for certain we have almost two hundred hosted members… probably more."

"When I… left… we had only a hundred in total!" I was ecstatic. "And almost none hosted…"

"That's down to the hosts. We have very few that choose freedom over helping us to fight now, when they end up with a peace movement Yeerk." He paused, then grinned. "Now we just need a figurehead. And it looks like we have her."

"I'm not that famous…"

"You'd be surprised, Aftran."

I was silent for a minute, letting this sink in.

"The only problem is, there's now a lot of groups opposing the Visser, but they're not united. But it's so risky to unite them…"

I nodded. "Yes. But I think that might almost take care of itself."

"It might." He was quiet, watching me. "I missed you," he said quietly.

I felt tears begin to form, and blinked them back. "I missed you too," I whispered back.

I think I might have kissed him, if he'd been in a morph like me. But it would be unfair on Tidwell to do something like that, not to mention odd, so I didn't.

Despite what the Andalites say, Yeerks do love. Not in the same way as humans, Andalites and Hork-Bajir, of course. But nevertheless, we do. Yeerk love is usually bigamous: as we reproduce in threes, usually a female is in love with two males, or a male with two females. It's difficult to explain. It was also the case with me. However, I hadn't seen my other mate, Innis 551, for a long time. I'd asked them both to join the movement back when it started, but Innis, whilst secretly sharing the same ideas, was too afraid of the Empire to go against it. He promised not to betray me to the Visser, but that was as much as he would do. I'd been frustrated and hurt at first, thinking he was being a coward, but then I understood just how much I was asking of him. Maybe he didn't believe strongly enough to risk all that.

Illim's voice jerked me out of my thoughts. "Aftran? What do you want us to do?"

I looked at him, puzzled. "I don't know nearly enough about the situation," I said carefully. "I suppose we should keep trying to build up more support…"

"And then?"

"Then… I suppose we fight. But we don't have anywhere near enough Yeerks on our side yet."

He nodded. "I thought you'd say that. It's what I thought, too."

"Whoever's leading now is doing fine, anyway. You don't need me."

He shook his head. "We do. I think that's what the Ellimist brought you back for."

"Maybe," I said uncertainly.

"You'd better get back to the Animorphs. I suppose you'll need to be acquiring DNA or something," he said regretfully.

I nodded. "I'll see you again soon," I promised him.

I left, and it wasn't too long before I arrived back at the barn. Cassie was the only one there now, changing a deer's bandage. I smiled at her.

"Hey," she said. She finished tying the bandage and came out to meet me. "Listen," she began. "I didn't mean not to tell Illim…"

"It's okay," I said hastily. "He doesn't mind, and I don't mind."

"Are you…" she began, and then changed her mind about whatever she had been going to say. "I suppose you need to acquire some morphs."

I nodded.

"Right, well, if you get some of these for a start," she said, gesturing around the barn. "I don't know if we can risk going to the Gardens, but we have a wolf here, that should serve as a battle morph for a while. It always worked for me."

I nodded, perhaps a little icily. I couldn't help remembering what Cassie's wolf morph had done to my brother. It had happened a long time ago, but you don't forget the death of one of the people you care most about easily. I'd long since forgiven Cassie, though, and anyway it was pointless to say anything, so I kept quiet.

After a pause, Cassie spoke again. "Right, well, try this." She drew a hawk of some kind out of a cage and held it out to me.

"I have to acquire in my natural form," I reminded her.

"Oh. Yeah."

"You'll have to pick me up and hold me against the bird. Be careful."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I'll be careful."

I demorphed, and acquired the hawk and wolf morphs. Then I morphed back: I was getting really tired of morphing and demorphing time and time again.

Almost as though she'd read my mind, Cassie said: "You can stay in me, you know. You don't have to keep doing that."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded. "Of course."

"Well, I may as well wait until I have to demorph again. I don't feel like doing it now."

"So, what did Illim have to say?" Cassie said with a slight grin on her face as she picked up a brush and started sweeping the barn.

I grinned again, remembering what he had told me. "We have nearly a thousand members."

Cassie dropped the sweeping brush. I laughed.

"A _thousand!_" She repeated, looking amazed.

"Nearly. Just under a thousand. There's probably more that feel against Visser Three at the moment but don't want to go against him so directly. Or can't find a way to join."

"That's brilliant."

I nodded. After a short silence, I said: "So, what did Jake have to say when you got back?"

Her happy expression faltered. "Aftran… our families are in danger. I mean, the Yeerks have a DNA match for Tobias: he's trying to save his mother, but it's not long before they find the rest of us, is it?"

I touched her sympathetically on the shoulder. "So, what are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "Jake said we'd meet back here tomorrow and to get some sleep on it."

"It is late," I said.

She nodded.

"You should get some sleep," I told her.

"Yeah. Are you…"

"Yes. I'll just demorph."

I demorphed, and sensed myself being lifted up and the shape of her ear in front of me. I crawled my way in, and spread out over her brain, hoping I could remember how to do this, after my long absence from my Yeerk form. It turned out I could.

(Hey,) Cassie said. She was tired and yet too anxious to rest.

(Come on,) I said. We walked out of the barn and up to the house.

For a long time after she got into bed, Cassie was anxiously tossing and turning, worrying about her parents, unable to sleep.

(Can I help?) I asked gently.

(I don't think so,) she said sadly. (Thank you, anyway,) she added after a pause.

(I could tell you a bedtime story,) I joked.

She laughed a little. (I've grown out of those, I think.)

She did eventually go to sleep, but was troubled by dreams that were painful even just to observe, powerful enough to disturb the state of half-rest a Yeerk goes into while a host sleeps.

She awoke early the next morning, and found it impossible to get back to sleep, so she went down to the barn early and started on the chores.

The others arrived pretty early too, probably for the same reason. Jake brought Mr King, one of the Chee. The first thing we did was to sort out how the Chee would give me Kandrona, and Mr King gave me Kandrona while the others discussed their plans. I have to say it was a strange experience, to sit in a little cage inside an android's head and absorb Kandrona, and indeed quite unpleasant. I guessed I would get used to it, though.

Once I finished feeding, the others had decided to take their families to the Hork-Bajir valley straight away.

"Can I be any use?" I asked. "Or should I go ahead to the valley and explain to them what's going on?"

"Will they know who you are?" Cassie asked.

Marco nodded. "I talked to my mom and dad yesterday. I told them what had happened with you, so they'll know who you are when you turn up."

"Okay."

"It's relocated, though," Jake said. He explained the new route to the valley as quickly as he could. "Think you can get there?" He asked when he had finished.

"Yes," I replied.

The others left the barn to go and get Cassie's parents. I demorphed and then morphed, for the first time, my hawk morph, and took off, out of the barn and up into the sky.

**PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **OK, sorry this has been such a while, but it's up now! Enjoy (and remember to review).

Thanks to **Sinister Shadow** for the beta!

* * *

Flying there was so wonderful. The sights spread out, everything so far below me and yet I could see everything, every beautiful little detail with the wonderful hawk eyes. It was fantastic.

I was almost sad to eventually reach the valley, although it was spectacular in itself when I suddenly saw the shapes of Hork-Bajir moving around among the trees of Earth. I spotted a human with dark hair: Marco's mother, Eva. I banked and turned toward her, landing before her in the direction she had been walking. After remorphing, I walked out from the trees and into the main valley, and was immediately stopped by several Hork-Bajir. Of course they'd have security: what was I thinking?

I tried to explain my identity, but evidently Marco hadn't told them. However, they brought me to Marco's mother Eva who, luckily, had been informed about yesterday's events. She fetched Marco's father and Toby, the young Hork-Bajir seer.

"They've decided to bring their families here?" Eva asked.

I nodded. "I came ahead to let you know, as I couldn't really be of much assistance."

The three of them looked at each other, then back at me. Toby spoke.

"This is not unexpected, but it is sudden," she said. "We do not have enough buildings to house all these people at the moment, but we can build more. What worries me is food. It has been difficult enough to supply Peter and Eva when the other Animorphs were able to buy and bring food."

"We can do that, I'm sure," I said.

"We?" Eva inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"The peace movement," I clarified. "Getting it shouldn't be a problem, it's getting it here I'm worried about. But we'll find some way."

"The new people can squeeze in with us until their own cabins are ready," Peter said. "But we'd better start building the new ones as soon as possible."

Eva nodded. Peter and Toby went aside to discuss the new cabins and to get started with the beginnings of building them, leaving Eva and I to discuss the supplies. This started with a very awkward silence.

"So," I began, breaking it. "How many supplies do you think you'll need?"

"Well, it's fourteen people, excluding Tobias and Ax, isn't it? So really just as much as you can manage. I don't imagine you'll be able to bring too much."

"Can I be any help here? If not, I'll go and try and sort out how we're going to get the supplies now."

Eva shook her head. "I don't think you can help much."

I left, but after a few paces she called to me.

"Aftran?" She waited until I had turned back. "Thank you."

I knew she didn't just mean the supplies. "You're welcome," I replied.

I left the Hork-Bajir valley and flew to the area where Illim lived. I demorphed a good distance away from his house, and then walked there.

Once I was inside, I explained what was needed. "I need someone who's able to take the supplies there," I said.

Illim looked thoughtful for a moment. "I know someone whose host is unemployed, he might have the time to take the goods there… Caras 213, do you know him?"

"I can't say I do, but I'm glad there's someone who can do it."

"I'll have to ask him, I'm not sure if he can… he should be able to. His host also enjoys off-road driving, so it wouldn't look too suspicious for him to drive the supplies there in a human four-by-four… do you think we can get there using that method?"

"I'm not sure… I imagine so. It might be difficult, though."

He nodded. "I'll ask him tomorrow… I feed then."

"Thank you."

He started to say something, then stopped.

"What?" I pressed.

"Nothing, it's just I… Nothing."

I could tell that pursuing the subject would get me nowhere, so I dropped it, despite being rather curious about what was supposedly 'nothing'.

Illim changed the subject himself, avoiding an awkward silence. "Aftran, there's a meeting of a few members tonight… I wondered if you'd be able to be there. Right now, we really need a leader… and, well, people want to see you. I think you'd quite like to see them, as well?"

"Yes, of course I'll come. When and where?"

Illim gave me the address of a house where the meeting would take place, and told me it would start at seven.

Reluctantly, I told him I would have to return to the valley. He looked disappointed, but then brightened when I reminded him I'd see him at that night's meeting. I then flew back to the valley: I seemed to be doing an awful lot of flying back and forth lately. I was overjoyed at the guiltless enjoyment of senses and movement morphing provided, but I was beginning to get quite tired.

By the time I returned to the valley, the Animorphs and their families had already arrived. With a sudden jolt of dread, I realised that Jake's parents and brother were not among them. It needed only one look at Jake's face, inscrutable though he attempted to make it, to figure out what had happened.

Still, I made sure, taking Cassie aside to ask for confirmation, which she gave.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Jake is… well, distraught." She seemed almost as bad herself, although I tried not to show that I noticed.

"I imagine he is," I said, waiting. I could tell she had something more to say.

"I never thought I'd say this about Jake but… I don't know what to say to him," she said, hesitant. "I don't really know how to act: he's kind of closed up."

I nodded. "Don't worry about it," I said as soothingly as I could. "It'll sort itself out, I'm sure: he'll come round in time." It wasn't the most helpful thing to say, but it was all I could think of. After all, if Cassie didn't know what to say, then who did?

She nodded, but still looked troubled.

"Anyway," I began, changing the subject, "I have to go to a peace movement meeting tonight."

"Oh," Cassie replied. "That's good, you can tell them about, you know, recent events."

I nodded. "It starts at seven, so… do you have the time?"

"Yeah." She looked at her watch. "It's quarter past six, you'd better go if you're going to fly there."

I hadn't realised it had got so late. "Oh great, I'm going to be late. I'd best go as quickly as I can: let the others know, will you?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." I demorphed and remorphed as rapidly as I could: having to return to my Yeerk form was getting quite annoying, but it was the only way I could keep true morphing power.

The house acting as the site for the meeting was old and isolated. Surrounded on all sides by trees and high hedges, the garden overgrown and the windows boarded, it looked like a haunted house out of a child's fairytale. However, its solitary and abandoned state made it perfect for use as a secret meeting place, as long as lights and noise were kept as low as possible. People were arriving very gradually, in ones and twos and from all different directions, through carefully concealed gaps in the hedging. I flew over the trees and into a secluded corner of the garden before morphing to human and heading towards the house itself.

Illim was there to greet me as I stepped inside. He led me to a dingy, dusty room in the centre of the house, where at least twenty Yeerks were already milling about, whispering to one another. My eyes widened: the meeting was not due to start for another quarter of an hour, and yet already there were more than had appeared at any meeting that had occurred before.

Illim's mouth twitched upwards at my expression. "A surprising number of Yeerks who had other engagements became suddenly free this evening, when they found out you were attending," he murmured, careful to keep his voice down.

"Oh," I said, for want of another reply.

We waited for several minutes for the rest to arrive. As I watched the number of Yeerks steadily increasing, I began to feel a flutter of nervousness in my stomach.

"You'll be fine." Illim touched my arm, almost tentatively.

I attempted to smile back, but I wasn't finding it particularly easy. I'd not always been the most confident of Yeerks, and I strongly disliked being the centre of attention. The thought that so many would be looking to me as their leader made me feel a little sick: especially as I didn't have any real idea what to do.

Once everyone had arrived, Illim called the meeting to attention. At first I was surprised with the ease at which he spoke to such a large group, then I remembered his host's occupation: he had had plenty of practice at speaking to large groups of people. I, however, was confident I would make a fool of myself.

My worry peaked as Illim introduced me. I forced myself to smile and nod at the thirty or so faces all turned towards me. My nervousness began to decline when I realised no one was going to ask me to make an inspirational speech, and that Illim would do most of the talking. As my fear subsided, I began to actually listen to what Illim was saying.

"As you all know, the human resistance group known as the Animorphs have now gone, with their families, into hiding. I wish to inform you now that several members of the movement, including of course our founder, Aftran 942, and myself, knew of their identities prior to the Empire discovering this. I hope you will understand that we thought it best not to reveal this to members in general, and neither will we be revealing their current location, other than to those of you who need to know." Illim paused for a second before continuing. "However, there is one factor about their location we do need to tell you: its natural resources will be unable to provide…"

"Illim, get to the point." The interrupter was a Yeerk with a young female host.

Illim smiled sheepishly "Right, sorry everyone. My host must be rubbing off on me, he does have a tendency to be verbose."

I snorted. "Don't blame your host, Illim, you've always been like that," I said jokingly. After I said it, I felt a little uncomfortable: I'd said it automatically, without really realising how much attention I would draw to myself.

Everyone else grinned; Illim looked a little embarrassed, but gave me a mock glare and continued.

"As I was saying, the Animorphs would like us to provide supplies. We need money, food you're not going to eat, any old blankets, clothing or bedding you can provide… anything at all that could be useful."

"Caras, I believe you will be able to transport these supplies?"

A young, dark-haired man nodded.

"You'd best stay behind after the meeting for details of the location," Illim told him. "Everyone else, if you can make any donations now, please do so, if not please bring things to the next meeting."

Illim's eyes darted to his handful of papers. He shuffled them before continuing. "Next, I believe we were going to discuss the current political situation, and how we may best take advantage of this." Illim turned to a middle-aged woman on his right. "Miran?"

I was startled. I should have known Miran would be here, but for some reason I hadn't expected it. She was one of my oldest and closest friends, and had been my earliest recruitment to the movement.

"As you all know, many Yeerks resent the appointment of Visser Three as Visser One. It does not help that his policies have been somewhat erratic since his promotion, nor that he is entirely convinced he is right." She paused to allow a short laugh from the room at large. "However, there is one Yeerk in particular who is showing sincere dislike of the Visser, and could be a valuable addition to our movement. She is sub-Visser eleven, the Yeerk in overall charge of host management on Earth. As I'm sure you know, she has a considerable amount of power and influence, controlling such areas as host security in the Yeerk pool, part of the appointment of Yeerks to particular hosts, and the Sharing. However, Visser One has been increasingly diverting money and resources from her department, and attempting to reduce her influence. She is a kind Yeerk, and not unsympathetic towards other species, although previously she has always been a firm believer in Empire ideals: she does not mind the takeover, even involuntary, of other species provided they are treated kindly. However, I get the impression she is beginning to believe that she does not want the kind of Empire Visser One believes in. My appeal for help today is not really to the Yeerks of the peace movement, but to you humans, and your Hork-Bajir comrades," Miran said, looking directly at each member in turn. "You have more opportunity for contact with her, or her associates, than most Yeerks in our movement. I need as much information as I can, but also I need you to behave positively towards her, as far as your cover allows. The better impression she gets of humans (bearing in mind she has a Hork-Bajir host), the more likely she will be to wish to join us. I would like you all, humans and Yeerks, to bear in mind how valuable an addition she could be. That will be all." Miran sat back in her seat.

Illim smiled. "Now, I believe Aftran has something to say."

I jumped. "Do I?" I asked nervously.

"Yes. I think everyone here is curious as to how you returned back to us."

I explained the whole story of the Ellimist, bringing it up to the present time, while leaving out any details I thought might be a potential security risk. I stuttered and stammered, terrible in comparison to Miran's excellent speech, and Illim's composed if slightly verbose one.

Once I had finished, everyone applauded, to my great surprise.

"You get used to it," Miran informed me, quietly, with a slight smile. "Stop looking so terrified, you were fine."

"Now, with regards to this new development, I think we need to fill Aftran in a little, as well as establish what effect this may have on our movement."

"I was hoping," I began, less nervous although still a little shaky, "that I would be able to help provide a link with the Animorphs. I think now more than ever we need to co-ordinate our efforts."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I think, Aftran, that it might be a good idea to fill you in on what's been happening, and discuss any changes to our structure or strategy, with just a few of us after the meeting," Milan suggested, with a wink.

She knew me too well, although I suppose my lack of confidence was quite obvious. "That's an excellent idea," I replied.

"Good," Illim said. "Does anyone else have anything to add?"

A few Yeerks commented on progress with their particular missions, and some others identified other potential new members. A few Yeerks gave money for the Animorphs' supplies at that meeting, and the rest promised to bring money and items the next week.

"Is that all?" Miran asked.

There was a general murmur of assent.

"OK, then. Meeting…" then she stopped. "Wait, I think Aftran is the proper person to end this meeting."

I looked surprised, and said nothing for a moment, until Illim nudged me. "Right… meeting dismissed," I said, rather weakly I thought, although later Illim and Milan assured me that it had not sounded like that.

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